It's Overand it's just beginning
by hpdude47
Summary: The Truman Show, the show that has brought joy, inspiration, and a sence of escapism to the depression-ridden America of the 2030s has ended. How will the world react to the ending of the most viewed and influential show of all time. More importantly, how


_Note: I wrote this story under the pretense that the Truman Show took place in the future, since it seems like it wouldn't be economicly, socially, or technologically feasible to some time down the road. This story takes place in the year 2038._

* * *

The 00s were the decade of the reality show. They flooded all the networks and all over cable in almost every genre imaginable. Near the end of the decade, television visionary Christoff an idea for the mother of all reality shows: catching a person's entire life on television, completely unaware to him.

Truman was born in 2008 to the biggest television audience that had ever turned in to a single show. From then on profits flowed in by the billions and Christoff invested in the building of one of the most massive constructions ever undertaken: the dome. When completed it could be seen from space and many many miles in every direction.

The Truman Show was on the air all the time continuously, and it was always the highest watched show in the nation as well as many other countries. Everyone was so eager to watch young Truman grow up.

But in thirty years time life in the United States took a sharp downturn. Dropping education rates, higher crime, and deteriorating cities had already been a problem before but now it was exploding. Not only that, but the nation had been involved in a number of wars which had drained money and reasources, and eventually caused many foreign countries to break off relations and trade rapidly declined.

Eventually a major economic depression started with no signs of recovery in the near future. With the low avaliability of oil, the suburban lifestyle became highly impractical and the cities swelled, and became filthy centers of overpopulation, crime, and desiese. Life in the 30s was not a piece of pie for most Americans.

But one thing continued to grab people's hearts and imaginations and that was the Truman Show. Christoff's corporation had survived the opening stages of the depression and was now thriving more than ever because of the several billion people who watched the Truman Show. To Americans, seeing the sunny and friendly Truman in the idealistic town of Sea Haven reminded them of a nostalgic time long ago, an imagined past when America was prosperous, sunny, and idealistic.

It happened one midsummer's night in 2038: Truman finally managed to escape the dome, now understanding the reality of his situation. The epic escape kept a nation awake through the night: men sat in their bathtubs even after the water got cold, restaurants with TVs stayed open as everyone gathered around to watch.

It was a little after five, Pacific time, when the transmission of the Truman Show was cut, finally and permanently. The sun rose over a nation that had not slept the last night, but as sleepless as they had been no one was interested in going to bed.

Newspapers on the east coast ran late editions to cover the story. "TRUMAN ESCAPES" Read the Philadelphia Inquirer. "TRUMAN BURBANK WALKS OUT" stated the Baltimore Chronicle. Perhaps the New York Times said it in the way that reflected the mood of the American public. In the biggest font, it stated: "IT'S OVER"

"It's Over" Truly was the way most of America felt that morning. The one show that took their minds of their daily struggles and the misery that faced the populace was now finished, for once and for all. The show that was the lifepulse for many Americans, the thing they looked forward to seeing when they got done from their exhaustive workdays, that is if they had jobs at all, which a large number of Americans didn't. It was really the end of an era for many.

Dispute most of America feeling that it was over, things were closing up and going away, for one man the adventure was just beginning…


End file.
